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`U' picks Neal as interim president: Research VP will be first minority to lead school

Homer Neal, the University's vice president for research, yesterday was named the immediate successor to President James J. Duderstadt.

Neal will become the University's interim president July 1, the day after Duderstadt steps down. He will be the first minority to lead the University in its 179-year history.

Regent Nellie Varner (D-Detroit) said yesterday's meeting of the presidential search committee provided the perfect opportunity to make the announcement.

The presidential search plan adopted yesterday by the Board of Regents calls for the next president to be named this fall. Varner said this would require an interim president to maintain "the continuity of leadership when President Duderstadt steps down June 30."

Neal said he hopes his role will help to "prepare for the transfer."

"He is stepping forward to serve the University," Varner said. "Not that this is something he desires -- it is something he feels he should do."

Provost J. Bernard Machen said Neal was a good choice because he is already a member of the "executive team."

"It will make the transition smoother," Machen said.

Maureen A. Hartford, vice president for student affairs, said the regents received advice from University administrators before selecting Neal.

"All of us gave input, but the regents made the final decision," Hartford said. "I'm delighted that Homer will take up the reins once Jim relinquishes them in July."

Other administrators praised Neal's academic credentials and administrative abilities.

"He is a world-recognized scholar," Machen said. "Homer Neal is known throughout the world as a respected physicist."

LSA Dean Edie Goldenberg said Neal's scholarly reputation gives a positive signal about the University's commitment to education.

"I think it sends a very strong message about the importance of academics at the University," Goldenberg said. "I think this is a wonderful choice."

Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor) said Neal's appointment is based on his experience and that his status as a minority was not a consideration.

"We were looking for the best person to take the helm at the University," McGowan said. "He happens to be a lot of things. He happens to be the best."

Neal said he is "prepared to and will work to sustain the overall momentum of the campus."

The regents and Neal agreed that he would not seek the University's permanent presidency. In the search's earlier stages, the regents said any interim president would serve in the position only if they agreed to not seek the position permanently.

"He is very clear that he wants to go back to the faculty," Machen said.

Before being named vice president for research in 1993, Neal spent six years as the chair of the physics department. He is on the executive committee of the Smithsonian Institute and received a Ph.D. in physics from the University in 1966.

Neal has served as the dean of research and graduate development at Indiana University and the provost for the State University of New York at Stony Brook.